Tall People Solutions?

[Midnightsky]

Originally Posted by 949 Racing

Old thread but I thought it pertinent..

https://949racing.com/Steering-Spacer-86.aspx

This is my next Mod. Get ready to ship to Canada lol.

[Re_Invention]

Time for an update friends.

Took on the triple bubble cut this past weekend. Worked out great - I highly recommend it for those that can stomach the idea of cutting up the interior.

I gained easily 1" at the least and nearly 1.5" in most surrounding areas. As you know, the roof has the double bubble already, so while the picture looks extreme (nearly 2.5") that's deceptive as the headliner gets closer to the roof at the peak point.

Without further ado:

Easy to undo, only a few philips screws, three pop pins, a few lift points and two pinch blocks for the sun visors (gotta go from the sides, not fore/aft like the first gen). Complete pain to get out without creasing it. I creased it. A lot. Like a lot, a lot. But it's hard to tell when you're in the car, at night without lights on, not looking at it.




I used a dremel and razor blade. Measure twice, cut once.


Out



And in




I originally conceived the idea as a removable piece with velcro strips and shaved foam to get the offset right but being in it - maybe some color matched fabric glued to the roof and draped down and stitched in the existing headliner will work just as well as a permanent solution

As far as headroom goes - yep, it's transformative. I'd put it on par with the steering wheel extender. Kicking myself in the butt for not having done this sooner. Getting that extra inch moves the seatback several clicks upright, that allows me to slide the seat aft on the track a couple of clicks which frees up kneeroom. Now I can sit comfortably with my arms closer to the wheel and shifter (no more shifter extender needed) without that aggressive seatback lean. It also feels much better to wear the harness now. There's only a minor drawback - sitting higher up means I'm losing a little topline vision out the window. But it's nothing to complain about. From here on out the only thing I could foresee working is a foamectomy, which I may do yet because I'm still getting those painful pressure points on my butt from having pulled the support basket pan under the seat. I also gotta lose (a lot) of weight, too, that'll certainly help.

I'll report back how it feels at the track. If stars align, I'm there this Friday.

Any/all folks welcome to check the car out, sit your butt in it and see how ya like the space. Located in SoCal.


A little teaser for the next update

[Pat]

Thanks for sharing that. I'm surprised this is the first I've heard of someone doing this. Nice work.
Other than it looking a bit goofy, can you tell part of the headliner has been removed? I'm specifically interested in extra noise from wind, rain, road, or interior bits creaking.

[Re_Invention]

Originally Posted by Pat

Thanks for sharing that. I'm surprised this is the first I've heard of someone doing this. Nice work.
Other than it looking a bit goofy, can you tell part of the headliner has been removed? I'm specifically interested in extra noise from wind, rain, road, or interior bits creaking.

Pat - this was original concern and desire to make the cutout square a convertible piece. I don't drive the car much so I can't provide meaningful feedback. My hope is it will not make a material difference and I can go the fabric-glue route to keep the space as a permanent benefit. I'll report back in a few weeks after I get some miles on the car or if I notice something immediately.

I forgot to include in the teaser - I'm in the middle of installing the Verus Engineering AOS kit; very straight forward so far - a word of advice though; you'll need a swivel head on the 22mm for the PCV valve removal. It is stated in their instructions and obvious when you see it in person but not in the video if that is what you're going off of. Waiting for the Fumoto valve to come in tomorrow to finish it up.

Also, looking for a paint shop to paint the GR86 ducktail and vortex generator in WRB - if anyone knows of a good shop in SoCal they'd like to recommend, please let me know.

[danger-RO]

Colin,

Came over and made an account after your post to my reddit Q regarding the wheel spacer. You're doing some serious R&D over here into what works and I'm loving it. My 86 will still be resigned to daily duties for now while my Z takes the brunt of track abuse. However, I'm sure I'll still benefit from a couple small things like the steering wheel spacer and Cusco pedal extender.

Is this going to be your main update thread? I'd love to keep checking in on your progress. Both for this car but also to get good ideas for my Z. Good ergonomic solutions are probably car agnostic, especially when you're having people fabricate you stuff.

Cheers,
David

[Re_Invention]

Hi David,

Glad to see you here. You're too flattering with the comments! But they are much appreciated. I'm happy to help out as I can. It's fun when folks participate in the knowledge share and help grow the community.

I do want to revise my prior statement; the Verus AOS install is 87.5% easy and simple. Because of the 8 possible connections, I could not get one done. If you're tall/large you likely have larger hands - that's going to make the block breather hose removal downright impossible with your meat mitts.

My advice for anyone installing a catch can/AOS that involves the block breather connection point;

Get your install done, get all the other connection points in place. Then:

1) Undo the A/C condensor shield (2x 10mm bolts) and undo the MAF sensor, pinch clips on associated lines
2) remove the center air intake pipe; loosen clamp to throttle body, disconnect AOS to intake pipe hose, unclamp the filter box and set aside the whole thing
3) take a 14mm socket and turn clockwise (righty-tighty) on the tensioner, slip off the belt from the a/c condenser
4) remove the 3x 14mm bolts (two fore-aft, one top-down) from the a/c condenser

You'll have enough slack in the a/c line to simply prop the unit up on top of the oil filter.

Now you can comfortably remove the factory block breather hose, put on the new one and reinstall the A/C condenser (reverse order).

I spent 30 minutes trying to get that dang hose off, concocting a number of ways to get it off... After busting my knuckles and losing too much skin/blood I bit my tongue and took the 5 minutes to remove the condenser and cursed myself for waiting that long.

Another point; the AOS is NOT compatible with the STI strut tower bar. See pictures below. I'm going to leave the bar for now and will work on a relocation bracket to move the AOS either down or further back closer to the firewall. Or maybe even go up an inch, if it'll still clear the hood, and route the hoses over the bar. Going to punt the question to Verus and see what they suggest is a better position; if it matters even. I suspect any straight tower strut bar that doesn't kink towards the firewall will work without modification.


If folks care to see it, I'll document the CAE install on its own thread otherwise I will post it here. While I like to use this thread for all ergo-related discussion (large hands on AOS install, for example) I think enough folks will appreciate the CAE install on its own merit.

And for some humble pie.

I actually freaked out a little last night and again this evening - I don't drive the car much, maybe 2-3x a month. And so I haven't started it in a while and after the AOS was in I wanted to check it out. Turned it on. Idled for about 5 minutes, no issues, and as I was about to close the hood, I start to hear a LOUD ticking/clicking sound. It isn't rod knock or chirping but something closer to lifter tick? Like a diesel. Really confused the hell outta me. I even thought for a second I forgot to set timing when I put the timing belt back on (wtf?) Spent the next hour looking at youtube videos to see similar symptoms. I'm still not sure what it is. Figure it's just the direct injectors making noise as the DI was switched over to once warmed up.

I start it again this evening to double check, starts fine on initial start up - take it around the neighborhood a few times to let to warm up. Get it around 170 and do some moderate pulls, keeps warming, get it full warm and give the beans in 2nd for a while, come back, sounds fine... idles... clicking/ticking sound is back. Ok, to be expected. Then the idle dips to 650-700 rpm. Start freaking out again. Look it up. Normal.

Just goes to show I need to spend more time with the car - and folks should not be taking advice me from!!!

I'm still not convinced I messed something up on install though. My paranoia is strong right now and I trust my gut. Will report back if anything is amiss.

Cheers all.

[Re_Invention]

I thought I'd give this thread a bump with some updates.

I 'shelved' the car because on the maiden voyage to the track, I was getting a second gear issue with the CAE shifter. It'd shift fine under 99% of situations but once on track at full tilt it would either grind, shift, or kickout on 2nd gear.

There's been a few little tweaks to the car. I took out the helper clutch spring but didn't like that inch of top dead play so I've put in an MTEC spring.

Turns out I got the CAE shifter install very wrong. The unit's self-centering function was not working properly. I misunderstood the instruction on the spring stop movement; I was afraid of going too loose and I misinterpreted the lateral play in the nut referenced in the instructions. I've since learned it's the whole plate end that needs to move. So the unit had been bound up the whole time. It's taking a lot of adjustment and some liberal sprays of Wurth HHS+ but the unit is shifting how I think the developers intended for it work. I still need to get under the car and check the clearance of the rod head.

Even without that, as of yesterday, after having done a few more tweaks/adjustments to the CAE settings and cutting some of the console trim pieces and insulation boot to fit. The piece is shaping up to be something transformative. The shifts are incredible. It's akin to a long necked S2000 shifter; just rifles into gear with very little movement and an easy action with no knotch with that satisfying clunk. Still zero rattles/buzzes/shakes/noises.

If I could do it over again I'd have gone to a professional race shop familiar with the CAE shifter and it should feel and pay for the installation. There is too much 'feel' here, if you're new to the unit, it's trial and error for something that isn't easily accessible.

Pat, you asked about the environmental exposure with the headliner cutout - after some miles, yes, the bare metal is noticeable. With your noggin up there you can sense the heat and cold and Nvh din more. Maybe this would be annoying if you're commuting the car through the seasons. I plan to glue the black felt piece this weekend during the next wrench session.

In other news; I threw in an Odyssey PC680 with Mele battery box to replace the factory battery. That was about 18 lbs of weight saving total, but it also allowed for more space to pull the AOS bracket back. I drilled out some new mounting holes and moved the AOS to clear the STI strut tower bar. There isn't much play but it fits and I'm happy with it.

I've still got loads to work on; the Toyota duckbill painted + installed, the Verus diffuser installed, Jackson Racing dual cooler, Subaru STI front splitter installed, couple of Cusco chassis bars... loads.

Gonna try to hit the TT this Friday and will post up impressions of the shifter and current setup.

[steved]

@Re_Invention does it seem possible to separate the headliner fabric from the shell? I'm thinking if you could, potentially an upholstery shop could offset the cutout, build up the gap, and then wrap the headliner in new fabric.

I might need to do this for helmet space, it seems the new chassis has almost 0.5" less headroom than my FRS but I might start with a headliner from a wrecker.

[JD001]

Tall people's solution,. Small people.. Combine to make normal size people.. Easy..

[Pat]

FWIW, I'll be installing a Recaro Sportster GT on a Planted base with Recaro sliders in a couple months. I'll share my experience. I'm 6'3", 165 pounds, and have a relatively long torso.
Based on what Racecomp Engineering has to say, I expect to gain about .7" of headroom.

[Racecomp Engineering]

I'm about to hit the button for some Recaro seats of my own for my 1st gen. Going with the SR-7, a JDM seat, and Kawaii Works sliders/rails which are also JDM stuff. Supposed to lower up to 40mm(!) though it's a little unclear. There's a good chance this is going to be a pain in the ass since neither are US market parts. Pictures look nice though.

Just discovered the rails recently, unsure about 2nd gen fitment.

- Andrew

[steved]

@Racecomp Engineering

Kawaii Works T130 or T131 brackets? Looks like both are listed for both chassis:
http://www.kawaiworks.com/seatrail_cat/zn6
http://www.kawaiworks.com/seatrail_cat/zn8

Are those part numbers for both the rail and slider?

Edit: actually on newer chassis looks like only the drivers side is supported for the -40mm drop.. which sucks as that's RHD. There is a passenger different part number for ZN8 but seems to say +10mm.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by steved

@Racecomp Engineering

Kawaii Works T130 or T131 brackets? Looks like both are listed for both chassis:
http://www.kawaiworks.com/seatrail_cat/zn6
http://www.kawaiworks.com/seatrail_cat/zn8

Are those part numbers for both the rail and slider?

Edit: actually on newer chassis looks like only the drivers side is supported for the -40mm drop.. which sucks as that's RHD. There is a passenger different part number for ZN8 but seems to say +10mm.

Crap yeah, interesting that it's different for the JDM passenger seat. I'm not sure why the difference is there.

- Andrew

[Pat]

So now what?
I ordered the Sportster GT, Recaro sliders, and Planted bracket last week.